Five years ago, Kailiah R. Fontaine, the youngest of Stephanie and Dan Fontaine's six children, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia, a blood cancer. Doctors said there was a good chance she would never go into remission, but to everyone's relief, she did.

A team at Children's Hospital in Boston followed up with a stem cell transplant within months, and Kailiah, now 10, has been cancer-free for five years. Her long hair, which hasn't been cut since it grew back after her treatments, is testament to how much time has passed.

Last year, Kailiah, a competitive dancer who hopes to be a nurse, was one of several young cancer survivors who told the Telegram & Gazette what they were thankful for.

This year, her thanks are mainly for the same things — "I'm thankful for my friends and family and that I don't have leukemia anymore," Kailiah said — but she and her family are also expressing their gratitude by supporting the organizations that help families like themselves.

The family has promoted the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light the Night Walk previously, but this year, a YouTube video Kailiah made with her mother and a family friend also mentions four other organizations in recognition of Kailiah's five years of survivorship:

Why Me & Sherry's House of Worcester, which provided the family with events, support groups and a temporary place to stay when their home was being worked on; Binkeez for Comfort, which delivers hand-made blankets and is based in Grafton; Hudson-based Andrew's Helpful Hands, which paid the Fontaines' mortgage for a year; and Kisses 4 Kayla, which is fighting childhood brain tumors with an organization in Maryland."We try to make it not just about us now," Mrs. Fontaine said.

The Fontaines have also returned to Sherry's House for fun and to help other families. It isn't unusual, said Danielle J. Perron, the organization's director of family services and events manager.

"I think it really provides hope, and it really helps the families to see other kids who are doing well," she said.

"Not a lot of people can understand what these families are going through."

The Fontaines will use some of their perspective on cancer this Thanksgiving when Kailiah's great-aunts join them at the table for the first time in years. One of them was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

"One of the big things for me, for my family, was making memories, because you didn't know what tomorrow or even the next hour would bring with cancer," Mrs. Fontaine said. "So when my aunt got this diagnosis, it was like, okay, this is what we need to do again. We need to make memories, we need to take pictures, we need to be together."